You might not know Sean Whalen’s name, but you remember him. Back in 1993, Michael Bay made a Got Milk commercial with Sean Whalen as an Alexander Hamilton fanatic who can’t answer the $10,000 question because his mouth is stuck together from a peanut butter sandwich. The best of the ad campaign. You might be wondering, whatever happened to Sean Whalen? Turns out he made Crust, a film about a character that people are wondering whatever happened to him.
Vegas Winners (The People Under the Stairs‘ Sean Whalen) owns a dumpy laundromat and seems to live a rather solitarily and depressing life. He hangs out with his drunk semi-pal Russ (Terrifier 3‘s Daniel Roebuck). His ex-girlfriend (Sleepaway Camp‘s Felissa Rose) is not happy that he still sends flowers. It’s easy for people to think he’s never had anything interesting ever happen to him. Turns out he was a child star on the ’90s TV show Baker’s Dozen about a baker who adopts a dozen kids. While Vegas seems down on his luck, he is better off than nearly all of his co-stars. They’re either in rehab, prison or the grave. But there’s talk that the show is going to be revived with Randy (Succession & Ferris Bueller’s Day Off‘s Alan Ruck), the only other cast member not suffering from the Baker’s Dozen Curse. Is Vegas going to be a part of the series comeback? He’s not sure if he wants to get back into showbiz and give up his washing empire. The one good thing about running a laundromat is getting to keep all the lost socks. Vegas uses them to wipe his nose and more. One night a group of obnoxious teens bust into the shop while soaring on magic brownies. After they give Russ the business, they bust into Vegas’ “employee’s only” backroom and videotape the owner’s “and more” relationship with a lost sock. They put the footage online and turn Vegas into a tabloid freak. Vegas finds comfort in his pile of soaks and cries on them. His tears have a magical effect. When guy who videotaped Vegas returns to the store looking for more footage, he discovers that the single socks have united into a beast. Vegas will be revenged.
Crust is an amazingly bizarre horror film. There’s something so alluring about a golem made of tube socks taking care of the people who hurt Vegas. The sock monster puppets looks so good when it’s taking care of Vegas’ enemies. Shooting in black and white gives the film the same comedic horror texture of Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors and Bucket of Blood. Felissa Rose is hilarious as the ex-girlfriend who is not wanting to feed into Vegas’ reunion fantasies. Rebekah Kennedy (Two Witches) gets into the woman hanging out at the laundromat who wants to hook up with the lonely loser. The movie really shows how things can be for a child actor who is no longer that cutie pie. How the entertainment industry is so eager for them to become self-destructive so they can milk a few more hours of content out of them. Sean Whalen’s Crust is a perfectly disturbing late-night visit to a laundromat where nothing feels clean no matter how many quarters you put into the washer. Amazing what Sean Whalen can accomplish when his mouth isn’t sealed by peanut butter.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. They did a daring thing of making a black and white horror film. It looks sharp and the laundromat looks desolate without hues. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The noises of the laundromat are all over the speakers. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Sean Whalen has him explain his connection to various members of his cast. He gets into how he put together the script and most importantly the funding.
Dorothy 50 Years Later (2:37) has Sean Whalen playing an older Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. She’s standing by a wrecked house and having a meltdown. It’s joyfully disturbing.
Dorothy 2: The Bump and Run (6:43) has Daniel Roebuck as the Wizard. They’ve had a bad one-night stand.
Q&A from Crust Premiere in Los Angeles (23:58) has Sean Whalen, Daniel Roebuck, Felissa Rose, Rebekah Kennedy and a special guest on the stage after the screening. Whalen describes how this project came together that was nurtured by his divorce. He was working on a low budget film and realized that he needs to make one and not just act in it.
Anchor Bay Entertainment presents Crust. Directed by Sean Whalen. Screenplay by Sean Whalen & Jim Wald. Starring Sean Whalen, Daniel Roebuck, Rebekah Kennedy, Felissa Rose and Alan Ruck. Running Time: 102 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 10, 2024.
In case you weren’t born before the Got Milk ad aired:
